An 18-year-old former student of Dunbar Vocational Career Academy has launched a lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Education and Tywain Carter, a former security guard convicted of sexually assaulting him, alleging a failure to protect him from abuse, as reported by Gazettextra. The plaintiff, identified in court documents as John Doe, asserts that instead of safeguarding his well-being, staffers at the school repeatedly overlooked explicit warning signs, paving the way for Carter's continued sexual predation during the plaintiff's sophomore year.
Carter, who began his tenure as a security guard at Dunbar in 2021, was sentenced in 2023 to a total of more than a decade in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting John Doe and another student, despite the school employees' supposed awareness of his behavior which they neither reported nor intervened upon, and according to additional resources provided by ABC7 Chicago, the lawsuit mentions six Dunbar staff members who allegedly were cognizant of Carter's conduct is in direct violation of CPS policies but chose to turn a blind eye, hence failing to report to the Department of Children and Family Services and the Office of Inspector General.
Details from both sources unveil a chilling pattern of abuse wherein Carter groomed John Doe starting on his first day at the school by targeting his insecurities and subsequently abusing him frequently in a faculty-only computer lab, which should have raised red flags immediately, instead, it appears that was not enough for any protective measures to be instigated. In a pointed condemnation of the school's lack of action, John Doe criticized the educators and administrators alleging they showed an "utter indifference to or conscious disregard" for his safety, despite numerous opportunities to mitigate the risk, including staff training that underscored the importance of vigilance against grooming; as reported by Gazettextra.
In the aftermath of the lawsuit filed against Carter and the Chicago Public Schools, the CPS spokesperson declined to comment on ongoing litigation but assured that the safety of its community is a priority—as claimed in a statement obtained by ABC7 Chicago; meanwhile, the plaintiff John Doe, who now battles anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, has expressed a desire to establish a scholarship fund for survivors of sexual assault to ensure they can attend schools where they feel safe which he told Gazettextra is one of his main goals moving forward.
